Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Munich Security Conference was founded in 1963 by Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, a resistance fighter from the Stauffenberg circle. The first meeting was limited to about 60 participants, including Helmut Schmidt and Henry Kissinger.
The Munich Security Conference is held annually in February in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The primary venue is Hotel Bayerischer Hof, with Rosewood Munich also used.
Since 2008, the conference was headed by former diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, who established the Munich Security Conference GmbH non-profit company in 2011. Christoph Heusgen took over as chairman in February 2022, and former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was named incoming chairman in October 2024, starting in 2025.
The Munich Security Conference brings together about 800 senior figures from more than 100 countries each year. Attendees include heads of state, government ministers, military officials, representatives of international organizations, business leaders, and journalists.
The Ewald von Kleist Award has been given since 2009 to individuals who made outstanding contributions to peace and conflict resolution. Laureates receive a medal inscribed with "Peace through Dialogue"; past winners include Henry Kissinger in 2009, John McCain in 2018, Angela Merkel in 2021, and Mia Amor Mottley and John F. Kerry in 2024.
The 58th Munich Security Conference in February 2022 was dominated by escalating tensions over Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Western nations about Moscow's policy of appeasement and referenced Ukraine's surrender of its nuclear arsenal under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. Russian forces invaded Ukraine five days after the conference ended.